Means so far employed to enable derrickmen to get away quickly from his monkey-board on a drilling rig are rudimentary and known by derrickmen as a "Jeronimo". Such kinds of gear consist of two pulleys mounted on shafts parallel to an inverted T beam, which hangs down for the derrickman to sit on, and runs along a steel rope stretching from the monkey-board to the ground for a distance not less than twice the height of the drop, so as to diminish the angle of descent, and it is fitted with an equally rudimentary kind of brake, consisting of an iron bar made to work directly on the rope by means of a hand-operated lever, the kind of gear which must be installed on all shore rigs, though not on all offshore rigs, since a lack of space at the latter would make the angle of descent of steel rope too steep.
However such kind of gear does not afford much protection to the derrickman because it is rudimentary in design, normal safety requirements are ignored, a derrickman having to come down from his monkey-board practically clinging on to it, if he is to keep his balance, while it is also pretty dangerous to get to the gear, for the derrickman has to stand up on the handrail to do so.
To overcome such difficulties this invention provides an escape vehicle, particularly for the derrickman to quickly escape from his monkey-board on a drilling rig, and to do so safely.